Ian Luke, winner of our junior attendance trophy several years ago, emerged from a long hibernation to swell numbers for our afternoon ride to Spitchwick, the first ride of the new year.

Perfect weather conditions took us eventually to Buckland-in-the-moor, where we were tempted for a second time to enter the Round House cafe. John Stuart, who found himself unable to leave his expensive bike unattended, chose to eat his refreshments outside!

We’d all heard the forecast, so the first decision we made was to go to the cafe at Totnes for a drink. During our stay there Michael produced a map showing two cycle routes in the Totnes area proposed by South Hams District Council. It suddenly seemed a much better idea to try out one of these routes than to press on to a certain soaking at Slapton. First, however, we took a look at the new footbridge over the river Dart between Totnes BR station and Totnes Riverside station - a gate across the bridge was firmly locked, so our exploration was cut short!

The Littlehempston route was selected. It began with the track from Bridgetown to Gatcombe, which proved less arduous than we had imagined. At Broadhempston we concluded that the route was fine and diverted to Torbryan where we planned to enjoy lunch on a footpath. That was when the trouble started.

Just as we were closing the gate that led onto the path, a woman drew up in a red car and began shouting at us. It transpired that she lived in the area, was a member of the rambling club and had relatives who owned the land traversed by the path. Evidently she considered it her responsibility to harass anybody she found using the path who wasn’t a member of the rambling club!

We knew the path was a footpath and had planned to push the bikes half way along and then eat our lunch. The woman just didn’t believe us, being absolutely convinced that we were planning to ride as soon as she was out of sight, that we were rude and obnoxious and that we were chauvinists! Michael remained polite and calm throughout, but her only change of tack was to suggest that we had no right to push the bikes either, or to picnic. Clearly she was out to ruin our enjoyment of the countryside.

When Michael offered to bring everyone back she caved in and allowed us to continue, provided we didn’t ride the bikes and didn’t stop for lunch. She waited at the other end to make sure we hadn’t dawdled and to insist that we followed the difficult footpath over the styles and through the fields rather than continuing along the drive of the house. The Devon countryside is full of such pleasant people!

We concluded our ride with yet another visit to the Rising Sun Tea-rooms. It was raining heavily as we left: by the time we reached Buckfastleigh Arthur had decided that riding in the rain wasn’t quite as much fun as he had expected!

The evening was a reasonable success, as usual. Paul’s flying impression of Batman stole the show.

Gavin Taylor, from Buckfastleigh, planned to follow us across the moor with his friend, keeping at a discrete distance, but he didn’t reckon on needing an allen key to tighten his handlebars! Fortunately, Michael and Richard had to stop near Water Oak Corner to replace a brake cable, so when Gavin arrived on foot a few minutes later he was able to borrow the tools he needed.

Bob Taylor was waiting at the Bovey Tracey pick-up with a nearly new Dawes Super Galaxy. Michael had expressed an interest in buying it so that he would have a bike to ride while his Mercian was being renovated. After careful inspection a deal was struck and Bob delivered the bike to Buckfastleigh while Michael continued with the ride.

Having ridden along the old railway track to Lustleigh we were disgusted to find that the Primrose Cafe was closed! We would have gone to the cafe in Bovey if we’d known, but now we were there we’d just have to go without our refreshments.

Disaster struck for Tao at the top of the Cleave: his front tyre burst, evidently caused by a poorly adjusted brake block. The split in the tyre was so long that it could not be repaired, so he decided to hobble on with us to the nearest telephone (Manaton) and then ring his parents.

The telephone marked on the OS map turned out to be non-existent, the nearest one being a long walk in the wrong direction from Manaton Church. Influenced in part by the good progress he had maintained thus far, Tao decided to continue with the ride.

There was a snack van at Hound Tor, so we decided that we could stop for hot food and drinks while Tao struggled on. When we felt he had a sufficient lead we set about catching him up, but as we rounded each corner there was still no sign of him. Clearly this was a young man to be reckoned with!

We finally caught him near Cold East Cross, from where he set off down the hill towards Bickington and home.

Another exciting Crofters computer-games social, where 4-player Lotus ruled the evening.

Having ridden through Avonwick and California Cross we decided to explore a circular route near Ringmore recommended by the Heritage Coast. First on the list was Blackberry Lane, which turned out to be too muddy even for the mountain bikers. We stopped half-way along for lunch in a peaceful glade before struggling on through the mire.

The tarmac route through Ringmore to Challaborough beach proved much more interesting. We spent some time walking around on the fascinating coastal rock formations before climbing out of the bay by way of the easterly road through Bigbury. It was during the descent to the Aveton Gifford tidal road that Arthur, a recent recruit to the sport, lost control on a bend and found himself in the mud! Fortunately no real damage was done.

We had planned a well-earned tea stop at the Avon Mill cafe near Loddiswell, but when we arrived we were dismayed to discover that it was closed for the winter! If we wanted refreshments we’d just have to ride all the way to South Brent - and of course that’s exactly what we did.

Ken Twydell managed to persuade Dave Cutts, not seen on a bike for months, to join us for this February afternoon ride. The cafe at Fermoy’s garden centre, Ipplepen, proved irresistible once again.

A videotape detailing the construction of bicycles and their components kept the few attendees happy this evening.

Michael was the only person to have any real enthusiasm for continuing to the destination, but Tao, Budgie, Seb and Ken didn’t want to appear weak-kneed so they agreed to proceed.

The track alongside the ship canal was, not surprisingly, almost deserted today. We tried to enjoy lunch in the shelter of a bank, but it was just too cold to stand around for long. We sped on to Exeter and then returned via Shillingford St George and Haldon.

At Chudleigh, Ken suggested a cafe he knew of near the lower reaches of the village. It was called the Wheel Croft and turned out to be excellent in every respect (food quality, price and atmosphere). We’ll no doubt be returning again!